Everything You Need To Know About Reselling White-Label Website Solutions

Ok, you knew that a decade ago, but it’s STILL true. In fact, many agencies continue to underestimate the demand for SMB website solutions. The reality is that website design and hosting is a 90+ billion dollar market, yet less than 75% of agencies offer website solutions.

That’s a huge missed opportunity.

Actually, ‘underestimate’ may be the wrong word. Most agencies probably want to offer websites, but they just don’t realize that scaling their website services doesn’t require a team of developers and web design savants.

There’s another option out there. White-labelling exists to address this exact issue, allowing you to sell white-label website solutions to your clients without any knowledge of CSS, HTML, coding and the like.

Here’s the ultimate beauty of white-labeling: Your white-label partner will do all the work while you get all the credit.

Let’s take a closer look at how white-labeling works for website solutions and why it’s an essential service for agencies of all sizes.

Why Agencies Resell White Label Website Solutions

White-label website solutions are website-related products and services resellers can rebrand and sell at their own price point to business clients. This could mean reselling website hosting, web design and creation services, or even website add-on products like live chats or form builders.

The most common white-label solution for websites is a design & development service provided by a third-party provider. Companies can sell websites designed by the white-label website provider under their own brand and at their own price-point.

Here’s a breakdown of how it works using web development as an example:

A white-label web design provider, Company A, partners with a marketing services provider, Company B. Company A can create and design websites that Company B resells under their brand.

Specifically, a white-label team from Company A fulfills the web design needs for the clients of Company B.

The website appears on the outside to be created by Company B, but behind the scenes, it was designed and created by Company A.

Here's a visual to help explain:

The best thing about the white label model is it’s risk-free for the agency—ROI is built-in:

Get white label solutions at wholesale prices from the supplier

Markup the cost at your desired margin and resell

Only pay for what sell

Taking advantage of white-label website solutions can lead to huge gains for your agency without adding a ton of overhead or "losing face" by openly outsourcing your products and offerings.

Why You Need to Seize the Market Opportunity in Websites Before Your Competition Does

Websites are a core aspect of any business' online presence and acts as the "home-base" for their virtual doorway. Every other aspect of digital marketing funnels back to your website, which acts as the foundation of your client's online presence and is generally optimized for making that final conversion or sale.

We've said it before and we'll say it again: if you don't build websites for your clients then someone else will.

“In order to stay competitive and meet the demands of your clients, your agency must offer a variety of local business solutions. Other agencies, freelance designers, and self-build tools are stealing valuable website solution clients away from your web agency. Differentiate your agency from the rest by offering local businesses the core ingredient to having success online, and add on solutions from there.”

Zachary Yuzdepski

Product Marketing Manager, Vendasta

In fact, website solutions make up a HUGE portion of the projected advertiser spend this year, according to Borrell Associates research.

You can clearly see in the above chart that web hosting and website design/maintenance make up the bulk of the projected marketing budget for most SMBs in 2018.

Do the solutions agencies offer match the SMB market demand?

Not at all! According to our data, digital advertising and social media are the two most common services agencies offer, with websites coming in 3rd. There’s a market opportunity here for you. Strike while the window is open.

Websites solutions present the largest market opportunity in digital, yet 26% of agencies don’t sell them. Taking advantage of this avalanche of website spending with a white-label website solution will turn your business into that sticky agency that clients can depend on as their one-stop-shop for all their marketing solutions.

5 White-Label Website Solutions You Can Resell

Adding some form of white-label website products or services is a great idea for any reseller that works in the marketing space. A no-brainer option is to offer a full website package through a white-label provider: website creation (design and development) and hosting.

Here’s a deeper look at what you can offer:

1. Website Hosting

Website hosting is a $40 billion industry, yet offering hosting internally as an agency may present some technical challenges. As an agency, the last thing you want to put your valuable time into is mastering the technical aspects of web hosting. Virus and malware protection, a secure connection for site visitors, site backups, and increased bandwidth are key aspects to consider in a hosting solution.

With white-label website hosting the developer tools do the heavy lifting so you can stay focused on what makes you money—selling and designing beautiful websites for multiple clients.

2. Website Creation Services

On the public-facing side, website design and maintenance is nearly a $40 billion market. If you’d like to step out of the middle of the website creation process for your clients, a white-label website creation solution could be the answer. As the core of your client’s online presence, you’ll be providing a vital piece of your client’s business. Plus, pairing website creation with the other key services on this list will keep your clients locked in to ensure a longer and closer relationship.

Look for solutions that’ll take care of the website creation and design, as well as ongoing maintenance which includes security, backups, and optimization, all under your agency’s brand.

"Working with my partner Vendasta became that much better when website creation appeared into Marketplace. Budget is always a concern for small businesses as well as timing...well that has now been resolved! AMG has launched over 30 websites in the past year utilizing the website creation in Marketplace, ranging from simple and effective landing pages to 10 page fully custom designed websites. Here is the key, however—not only are these websites cost effective for the client, but are great looking sites with optimal functionality. At the end of day, my client has a website that they love completed in a timely manner that fits their budget."

3. Website Builders

White-label website builders give you and your clients the ability to create modern, responsive mobile-friendly websites that are optimized for all devices. These websites can be easily created for any type of business, in any vertical.

Building custom websites for your clients is never going to be a snap fingers=get website situation, but most modern builders have an intuitive WYSIWYG editor with drag-and-drop capabilities. This makes the process much less cumbersome than in the past. Additionally, website builders can be a great DIY offering for business clients with smaller budgets.

4. Website Content

Many of your clients are also going to want help with their website content - both on their product/service pages and blog. With white-labeled content, you can establish your client as a trusted expert in their field with fully-researched industry-specific content for their site and blog. The best part is that you don’t need writing expertise or any knowledge about your client’s industry.

If you’re already building a website for your client, selling content for the site as well is a no-brainer. It’s a great way to expand your agency’s services, add value, generate extra revenue, and become a stickier agency overall.

5. Website Add-Ons

Add additional value to your website bundles through supplementary products to keep clients sticking around. This could be things like a website live chat, built-in appointment scheduling widget, or even a review generation service to get great reviews added on to your clients' site for their customers to see. The website is the core of your offering—add in the smaller widgets and services to really go the extra mile as a web agency.

Now that we’ve discussed why to offer website solutions and which ones to offer, let’s take a look at how to actually offer them to your clients.

1. Choose a White-Label Partner

Your reputation is everything as an agency. The company and white-label team you choose to partner with will be representing you, so it’s essential to know exactly what you need as you research prospective partners!

Here are the 3 main elements of a great white-label partner:

They're the right fit: Choosing a partner with similar goals and vision and one that provides a solid product or service that's right for your business is key. A partner who'll help you sell the products they’re supplying is a nice bonus.

They have a stellar reputation: Don't waste your time on companies with a poor reputation and track record. You need a reputable partner with white-label experience and one that offers excellent service and support.

They're transparent: Make sure you can test drive their product or service up front, and check that their contract terms are clear. You should also make sure they offer proof of performance through detailed reporting.

🔥Bonus Elements🔥 Here are a few website solution-specific elements to consider:

They have a portfolio of past websites across different verticals you can review

They have specific security guarantees/parameters

They offer free migration from one provider to the next

They have minimum hosting speed requirements

Tip: For a more detailed look at what to look for in a white-label partner, you should check out this post.

2. Selling White-Label Websites

Selling website services can be difficult. With a product like an iPhone or Laptop, the customer has a pretty good idea what they’re getting. Services like custom website creation have much more variability, uncertainty, and risk for your client.

Just like any other product or service that you’re selling, a prospective customer is only going to buy if they understand the value of the purchase and trust that you’ll do a good job.

When you sell websites, your sales pitch comes down to communicating that value with your business clients. To sell website services you must:

Get customers to buy-in: Show value in your agency’s services and build trust in your professionalism and expertise. Your salesperson will need to show local business prospects where to improve their current website or demonstrate the value of creating a website. Plus, they’ll need to offer social proof that you’re a trustworthy agency to work with.

Eliminate the fear of one-time website design: Freelance web design contractors have created a stigma around websites where web design is simply the one-off creation of a site with zero assistance offered after the site is built. Show your clients that your agency (and white-label partner) are able to help them with maintenance and any future updates, additions, or re-designs they may want.

Offer a variety of website services for their business: If your client prefers WordPress, no problem! Enable your clients who are already using WordPress to import their sites to your web hosting. For the clients who want simple solutions that they can control, offer drag-and-drop website building tools. Do they want more pages? eCommerse options? Conversion-optimized landing pages? Make sure you offer these options.

3. Website Creation with a White-Label Team

Working with a white-label website creation team should be a communicative, collaborative process, just as it would be for any contract work you purchase.

Here are the basic steps that go into working with your white-label team:

Consultation: The process should start with a consultation call to discuss the client’s needs and details about the project, like the color scheme and logo, domain name preferences, check out some sample sites, marketing materials, homepage layout requirements, tabs and pages, features, images and graphics ideas.

Website Creation: Next, the team will start working on the website, checking in to determine that the site’s branding and design elements and industry-specific content are coming together as agreed.

Launching the Website: After everything has been submitted and approved by you, your white-label team will complete the look and feel of the site with some final site optimization tasks. After that final work is completed and approved, your client’s website will go live and be ready for business!

💡Note: Direct contact between your white-label team and your client will be essential to make all this happen! This is why it’s essential to choose a company that’ll represent you well. For example, Vendasta’s white-label teams act on behalf of our partners and we always use a toll-free number and a white-labeled email to reach out to our partner’s clients.

After you go live, your clients will inevitably have some feedback and requests. The completion of work on a website should not end when the first iteration of the site goes live! This is a great time to suggest maintenance packages and design upgrades if you haven’t done so already.

“For an agency to be successful, it's not just about how to sell websites—it's also about how to develop long-term client relationships and grow a valuable business relationship. Providing ongoing value will be beneficial to both parties, and keep your agency making money and growing.”

Shakya Abeywickrama

Growth Manager, Marketing Services, Vendasta

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White-labeling websites truly opens the door to new options and multiple streams of revenue without the knowledge, time, and staffing commitments that traditional agency growth requires.

About The Author

Patrick Liddy 'Kermit the Frog typewriter GIF's about digital marketing as a Content Strategist for Vendasta from his home in Portland, Maine. Prior to Vendasta, he earned his Master’s Degree in Public Policy & Management and was a Marketing Specialist at a digital marketing agency in Maine.